Vertical bale elevator



Oct. 28, 1952 G. H. HUBER VERTICAL BALE ELEVATOR- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 4, 1950 A FM. 2 INVENTOR.

Gilberr H. Hubert Fiji. 1

ATTORNEYS Get. 28, 1952 5, H HUBER 2,615,554

VERTICAL BALE ELEVATOR Filed May 4, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR.

By enbm H.Huben ATTORNEK is v Patented Oct. 28, 1952 jS'lT-ATES-sePATENT were]:

,VERTICAL BALE ELEVATOR Gilbent H.- Huber,- :Qrestline; ohio a lic t o May 4, 1950,. Serial N6. 159,975

":"'My invention'relatesto-avertical'bale elevator.

" which is yespeciallyuseful in transferring bales of hay, straw, etcetera,--from -alower level to an upper'level. It is'desig'ned'speci-fically for use in1barns or-similar-farm buildings for receiving the bales at' wagon-bed or truck-'bed -.leve1. and elevating them to loft level.

- One of the most-importantobjects of. my in- -"-vention is to provide a bale elevator lwhich occupiesa-minimumamount-of space so that it will notinterfere with other activities at the-ground floor-level of'the barn and socthatitwillextend tip-through the --usual' loftopening.

- Another-object of my inventionxis to. provide an elevator which is so designed .thatitcan be ..:;a

showing'. 'thesside of therelevaton which carries "It has to do,-more particularly with anelevator the endlesschain 'elevatingmeans.

Figure 3 :is.. a perspective View ofyi he; elevator showing the loading and endlessichainoconveyor s Side.

'- -Figure. 4: is: a plan view .of: therelevator.

.: .Figure .15 .is :a; diagrammatic; wiewi iilustratin the operation of the elevator.

Figure 6 1is.;a1"horizontal:- sectio l-mew oil canhandle circular bales.

trating a change inthe shaft sogthat;

. elQYator With: reference to thee-drawings I have-illus- -'operated by onemanwho .will load; the :elevator,

the elevator-automatically discharging the: bales Y into the loft.

- -Anoth'er important-object of. myinvention is -=to provide an elevator ofthe1type indicated which can be adjusted in accordance with lofts of vary- ---ing elevation.

A further object of. my invention is topro- H vide a bale elevator which is of.extrernely simple, 1 and-inexpensive structure.

A further object ofnmy invention is to pro- 'uvide abale elevatonwhich .isrelatively-ilight in -a suitableleveL; for .example, at wagon-bed or truck-bed. level: Extending upwardly from this bed isa simple .shaft.whichzis'vertically disposed.

- -Associated'with'one side of. this shaft is elevat- 1 :ing means in the formpo f an-endless chain which .zazcarries bale-engaging-cleats. On their upward aother .suitablevpower; means. I: through 1 suitable speed/reduction 5 belt .drives I 3 1- drivesthe sprock'et .l 4;;Which ;is =.p art of; ing: means to, be.- described subsequently. s 'Extending {upwardly fromi platform I 0 is a'vertica'l shaft indicatedu fillqrally by -the nu- :mer'al l5. Itwi-ll be notedahat the platform It extends to the-left ;(-Eig ure 1);bQXOHd 2.; so as to prevent tipping of tharshaf; since the Another object of myinventionyis to :provide a'baleelevatorwhich is so :designed as to re- Wards thatside. the relevating quire aminimumamount of power to operate.

located on, the right .hand side or necta and being in the form of an endless chain; conveyor indicated generally by the numeral 1 6,

-. r ers t i5 ccm r e e r u ve t alaposts or rails l-l-; w hichhave-. their loweraend s' rigidly secured to-the platformelfl and frame i l tn flhese vertical members I lgare arranged age am; corner of theshaftand spacedproperly.to receivetherebetween the: standard. size bale-B supported on ;end, as shown. in'liigure 4.; As previously. indicate, endless ch c n or 8 .iadi m at are positioned on the platform and elevate them through the shaft; Associatedwith -the upper ndpf the shaft is a bale deflectororguide. which xtends into'the shaft andwhichv will deflect .57 thebalesthroughasuitable opening at one side one side of the shaft This-conveyorco rnprises an I j endless -sprocket.tvpechain l 8 which, is. carried a travel, these cleats engage excessive bales which 1 bygthe driving sprocket 14 at the..lower .end of the shaft andthe idler. sprocket I 9 atthe. upper -end of theshaft. -...T-he chain..l8 tr avels,.between .andare-rigidIysecured to each othenandjto the adjacent vertical rails I! by. means of aplujrality of the-shaft onto the floor of the. loft or other the vertical columns 20which,arerlaterally spaced of transversebraces .2 I. located ats iitablelevels.

- i The sprocket -l-4.is supported by [a short trans- 5O averse shaft 22- mounted insuitable bearings and I v -members 20 .while the sprocket; l9.'i's.,.si milarly bale-engaging cleats 24 whichproject.outwardly therefrom. These cleats will bespaced a distance greater than the length of a ,bale.-'...' Ihei. plat- ;form is provided-with a suitable opening. 25 to constructed according to my invention showing the loading side.

Figure 2 is a view at right angles to-Figure 1 supported bya transverse shaft. 231.... At; 'suitable intervals along the chain, it is prpyided. with permit movement-'ofthe'cleats 2 4 -upwardlytherethrough. ".JIhe opposite or left-handz ;side of ,therShaft is 3 provided With a bearing plate 26 that provides a guiding surface against which the bales are forced during their upward travel. Obviously when a bale is in the shaft and is being lifted by the conveyor Hi, there is a thruston the bale towards the left. This thrust is taken by the plate 26 which provides a bearing surface along which the one side of the bale slides. This plate 26 may be formed of sheet metal and may be suitably secured to the inner edges of the rails H at that side of the shaft. To reinforce this plate a V-shaped vertically extending rib 21 is provided midway between its edges. This rib 2'! projects inwardly and will also serve as guide means for the bales, as shown in Figure 4, since the rib will extend into the compressible material of the bale when it is forced thereagainst by the conveyor.

The front side of the shaft I is open adjacent its lower end so as to provide an opening 28 of suitable height through which the bales may be pushed on end over the surface of the platform into the shaft. For guiding the bales into the shaft, diverging guide wings 29 are provided at each side of the opening 28 and extend outwardly therefrom. Above the opening 28 midway between the rails l! at the front of the shaft 2. guide board 30 is provided which extends from the opening 28 to the top of the shaft. On the upper portion of this board 39 a bale deflecting member 31 is located. This member 3! is carried by a slide member 32 which is mounted for vertical sliding movement on the board 39. The member 32 is moved vertically by a screw 33 which is rotatably anchored at 34 to the lower end of the board 30 and is threaded through a bracket 35 carried on the lower end of slide 32. The screw 33 can be located by a crank supplied to its lower end 36 so as to move the deflector 3| vertically. The deflector 3| extends inwardly into the shaft almost to the opposite side thereof and is provided with a bracket on its upper end which has a horizontal portion 31.

The side of the shaft l5 opposite the loading side thereof is also provided with a guide board, as shown best in Figure 4.. This guide board is indicated by the numeral 33 and extends from the platform it upwardly to a point 89 spaced from the upper end of the shaft, this point being spaced above the lower end of the opposed guide board 38. Above the upper end of the board 38 is a guide member 40 which extends transversely of the shaft. This guide member 40 is preferably formed of sheet metal and is of semi-circular cross-section. It i rigidly carried by brackets 41 which are clamped to vertical rails H by means of clamps 42. Angle braces 43 have their upper ends connected to the outer ends of brackets ll and their lower ends clamped to rails I! by clamps 44. The guide member 40 may, therefore, be adjusted Vertically by releasing clamps 42 and 54 and sliding them vertically on rails H, in accordance with the vertical position of the deflector 3!. As the bales of hay are deflected by member 3|, they slide over the member 40.

The used my elevator is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 5. A bale of hay is slipped through the opening 28 at the front of the shaft on end onto the platform Hi. The lower end of the bale can slide on the platform into position where it is centered within the shaft, as shown in Figure 4. The lower end of the bale will be engaged by the next arriving cleat 24 of the conveyor and will be lifted through the shaft. As it is lifted, the conveyor exerts a thrust on the right hand side of the bale (Figure 1) and presses it against the bearing plate 26 at the left hand side of the shaft. The rib 21 will aid in preventing the bale from tipping forwardly until it passes beyond the opening 28. As the bale nears the upper end of the shaft, its upper end engages the deflector 3! and it is gradually tipped rearwardly onto the member 40 over which it will slide and drop into the loft. As previously indicated, deflector 3i and guide member 40 can be adjusted vertically in accordance with the height of the loft.

In Figure 6, I have illustrated an arrangement which can handle circular bales C. This structure is exactly the same as before except that the plate corresponding to plate 26 is of different form. In this instance, the plate is provided with two laterally spaced vertical ribs 26a and 21a which form a trough-like guide for the circular bale.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided a simple elevator for handling bales of hay or the like. The elevator can be operated by one man who will. beat the lower level and will merely load the bales on the platform. A minimum amount of space is required for the elevator since it is vertically disposed and, therefore, does not require space like an inclined drag conveyor. The structure is such that it can be operated with a minimum amount of power.

Various other advantages will be apparent.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

l. A baled hay elevator comprising a perpendicularly disposed shaft, an endless chain extending vertically at one side of saidshaft and having bale-engaging members projecting into the shaft, 2, vertical bearing plate at the opposite side of the shaft for engaging the opposite side of the bales, an inlet opening at the lower end of the shaft and at the forward side thereof, the rear side of the shaft at its upper end being provided with a discharge opening, a deflector mounted on the upper portion of the shaft and projecting into the shaft towards the rear side of the shaft where said discharge opening is provided for deflecting bales from the shaft through said opening, and means for mounting said deflector for vertical movement on the shaft.

2. An elevator according to claim lwherein a horizontal guide member is provided opposite and below the deflector on the rear side of the shaft for engaging the bales as they are'deflected by the deflector. Y

3. An elevator according to claim. 2 wherein said guide is vertically adjustable on 'th eshaft.

4. An elevator according to claim '3 wherein the bearing plate opposite the endless chain conveyor is provided with a vertical rib intermediate its edges.

5. An elevator according to claimfe-wherein the bearing plate is provided with a central guide trough intermediate its edges.

6. An elevator according to' claim 5 wherein the inlet opening at the lower end of the shaft is provided with guide wings for directing bales thereinto. p

'7. An elevator according to claim 1,6 wherein the shaft is mounted on theupperside of a plat form. i"

8. An elevator according to claim 7 wherein the shaft is offset on the platform towards the side Where said endless chain is disposed.

9. An elevator according to claim 8-wherein said platform is supported by a frame at a suitable level, and driving means for the endless chain mounted on said frame.

GILBERT H. HUBER.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,193,118 Buck Aug. 1, 1916 1,494,343 Culbertson May 20, 1924 1,705,010 Garvey et a1. Mar. 12, 1929 2,372,902 Lewis Apr. 3, 1945 

